Display apparatus and hot stamping system for the same

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are a display apparatus including a display panel on which an image is displayed, a cover including a side portion configured to cover upper and lower side surfaces and left and right side surfaces of the display panel and a rear portion configured to cover an outer peripheral region of a rear surface of the display panel, and a rear cover coupled to the middle cover and configured to cover the rear surface of the display panel, and a hot stamping system for the same. A thin film having a particular color is attached to the side portion via the hot stamping system, which enables easy manufacture of the display apparatus having various colors of covers.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No.10-2012-0052844, filed on May 18, 2012 in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/636,043,filed on Apr. 20, 2012, the disclosures of which are incorporated hereinby reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

Exemplary embodiments consistent with the invention relate to a displayapparatus and a hot stamping system to attach a thin-film sheet to thedisplay apparatus via hot stamping.

2. Description of the Related Art

In general, a display apparatus includes a display panel on which animage is displayed, and examples thereof include a liquid-crystal panel,Plasma Display Panel (PDP), etc.

A typical display apparatus includes a display panel on which an imageis formed, and a cover configured to cover the side and rear surfaces ofthe display panel, for example.

With the recent advances in high-quality display apparatuses, providingthe display apparatuses with covers in various colors to satisfy variousconsumer demands may be desirable for the increasingly important designaspects of display apparatuses.

The covers are generally formed of resins, and therefore it may benecessary to use various colors of resins corresponding to theaforementioned various colors.

SUMMARY

It is an aspect of the exemplary embodiments to provide a displayapparatus in which a thin-film sheet is attached to a side portion of acover, and a hot stamping system to attach the thin-film sheet to a sideportion of the display apparatus.

Additional aspects of the invention will be set forth in part in thedescription which follows and, in part, will be obvious from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a display apparatusincludes a display panel on which an image is displayed, a coverincluding a side portion configured to cover upper and lower sidesurfaces and left and right side surfaces of the display panel, and athin film attached to an outer surface of the side portion.

The cover may include a middle cover having the side portion and a rearportion configured to cover an outer peripheral region of a rear surfaceof the display panel, and a rear cover coupled to the middle cover andconfigured to cover the rear surface of the display panel.

The side portion may be formed of a transparent material, and the rearportion may be formed of an opaque material.

The side portion and the rear portion may be integrally formed with eachother via double injection molding.

The thin film may be attached to the outer surface of the side portionvia hot stamping.

The side portion may include a concavely stepped portion on at least oneof a front end and a rear end of the outer surface thereof to limit anattachment area of the thin film.

In accordance with another aspect of the exemplary embodiments, a hotstamping system includes a jig device to support a cover of a displayapparatus, a sheet feed device disposed at one side of the jig device tofeed a sheet, to which a thin film has been attached, to the upper sideof the jig device, a sheet recovery device disposed at the other side ofthe jig device to collect the used sheet, and a hot stamping devicemovably disposed above the jig device to allow the thin film of thesheet to be attached to at least one side portion of the cover byapplying heat and pressure to the sheet against the side portion.

The at least one side portion may include four side portions, and thejig device may be rotatably installed such that any one of the four sideportions of the cover is selectively arranged above the rotated jigdevice.

The jig device may be vertically movably installed to allow each of thefour side portions to be arranged above the jig device at the sameheight.

At least one of the sheet feed device and the sheet recovery device mayapply a constant tension to the sheet to keep the sheet taut.

The hot stamping device may include a heater to press the sheet againstthe side portion, and a heater to heat the roller.

The heater may include a halogen lamp.

The hot stamping device may be movably installed in a longitudinaldirection of the side portion and may attach the thin film of the sheetto the side portion.

The hot stamping device may be vertically movably installed to respondchange in the height of the side portion.

The hot stamping device may be vertically moved to allow the roller tobe moved to a position lower than the side portion located at the upperside thereof.

The roller may be arranged parallel to an upper surface of the sideportion that is located at the upper side thereof.

The hot stamping system may further include a transport device installedabove the hot stamping device to guide movement of the hot stampingdevice including vertical movement.

In another exemplary embodiment, there is a display apparatus including:a display panel on which an image is displayed, the display panelincluding an upper side surface, a lower side surface, a left sidesurface, and a right side surface; a cover including a side portionconfigured to cover the upper and the lower side surfaces and the leftand the right side surfaces of the display panel; and a thin filmattached to an outer surface of the side portion.

In yet another exemplary embodiment, there is hot stamping systemincluding a jig device to support a cover of a display apparatus, thejig device including an upper side; a sheet feed device disposed at oneside of the jig device to feed a sheet to which a thin film has beenattached, to the upper side of the jig device sheet recovery devicedisposed at another side of the jig device to collect the sheet that hasbeen used; and a hot stamping device movably disposed above the jigdevice, the hot stamping device applying heat and pressure to the sheetagainst a side portion of the cover so the thin film of the sheet isattached to the side portion.

In another exemplary embodiment, there is a display apparatus including:a display panel on which an image is displayed, the display panelincluding an upper surface, a lower surface, a left surface, and a rightsurface; a rear housing disposed behind the display panel; and a bezelwhich is disposed around the display panel, the bezel including a sidewall which covers at least a portion of at least one from among theupper, the lower, the left, and the right surfaces of the display panel,wherein a thin film is attached to an outer surface of the side wall andthe side wall is of one color and the thin film is of another color.

The bezel may be a front bezel and the front bezel further includes afront plate disposed in front of the display panel, and the side wallextends rearwardly from the front plate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects of the exemplary embodiments will becomeapparent and more readily appreciated from the following, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a display apparatus accordingto an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the displayapparatus according to the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view illustrating a middle cover of the displayapparatus according to the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating a hot stamping system for hotstamping of the middle cover of the display apparatus according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating a jig device applied to the hotstamping system according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view illustrating a hot stamping device applied tothe hot stamping system and a transport device to transport the hotstamping device according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view illustrating operation of the hot stampingsystem according to the exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 8 and 9 are schematic views illustrating operation of the hotstamping device applied to the hot stamping system according to theexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view illustrating a procedure of attaching athin-film sheet to a protrusion via a roller of the hot stamping deviceaccording to the exemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 11 is a schematic view illustrating a procedure of attaching athin-film sheet to a protrusion via a roller of the hot stamping deviceaccording to an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the exemplaryembodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elementsthroughout.

An aspect of the exemplary embodiment provides a display apparatus inwhich a hot stamping process may be applied to a cover, and a hotstamping system for the same.

Hereinafter, the cover of the display apparatus and the hot stampingsystem to apply a hot stamping process to the cover according to anexemplary embodiment will be described.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the display apparatus, designated byreference numeral 100, according to the exemplary embodiment includes adisplay panel 110 on which an image is displayed, and covers configuredto cover upper and lower surfaces and left and right surfaces as well asa rear surface of the display panel 110.

The covers include a middle cover 120 and a rear cover 130. The middlecover 120 includes four side portions 121 configured to cover four sidesurfaces, i.e. upper and lower side surfaces and left and right sidesurfaces of the display panel 110, and a rear portion 122 configured tocover an outer peripheral region of the rear surface of the displaypanel 110. The rear cover 130 is installed to the middle cover 120 andis configured to cover a central region of the rear surface of thedisplay panel 110. The rear cover 130 defines a space in which elements,such as a circuit board to control the display panel 110, etc., areaccommodated.

In another exemplary embodiment, the covers may include a bezel whichcovers the sides of the display panel 110 through side walls of thebezel or a front bezel which includes a front plate which is disposed infront of the display panel 110 and side walls extending rearwardly fromthe front place, which cover the sides of the display panel 110.

The side portions 121 of the middle cover 120 are formed of atransparent material to enable realization of various colors. The rearportion 122 is formed of an opaque material to cover and hide the outerperipheral region of the rear surface of the display panel 110. In thepresent embodiment, the middle cover 120 is formed by double injectionmolding such that the opaque rear portion 122 and the transparent sideportions 121 are integrally formed with each other.

Additionally, a thin film 123 which is illustrated in FIG. 3 and has aparticular color, may be attached to the transparent side portions 121via a hot stamping system 200 (FIG. 4) that will be describedhereinafter, to impose the particular color on the side portions 121.That is, changing the side portions 121 to various colors may be easilyaccomplished by changing the color of the thin film 123 to the sideportions 121.

In another exemplary embodiment, the thin film 123 may be attached tothe side wall of a bezel which is disposed around the display panel 110.

The side portions 121 may optionally have a linear or curvilinear outersurface based on the design of the display apparatus 100, and may have alinear cross section to enable implementation of hot stamping via aroller 241 of a hot stamping device 240 that will be describedhereinafter (FIG. 4). In the present exemplary embodiment, the outersurface of the side portions 121 is an oblique surface that is graduallyraised from the front side to the rear side. In the present exemplaryembodiment, the outer surface of the side portions 121 has aninclination angle of 8.9195 degrees with respect to a horizontal plane.Four corners of the side portions 121 are rounded for an aestheticallypleasant design.

A rear end of the outer surface of the side portions 121 has a concavelystepped portion 121 a for accurate division of a hot stamping regionwhere the thin film 123 is attached via hot stamping by the hot stampingdevice 240 that will be described hereinafter. In the present exemplaryembodiment, the stepped portion 121 a is concavely formed only at therear end of the outer surface of the side portions 121, but thedisclosure is not limited thereto. The stepped portion 121 a may also beconcavely formed even at the front end as well as the rear end of theouter surface of the side portions 121.

In the present exemplary embodiment, additionally, a lower one of theside portions 121 is centrally provided with a downwardly extendingprotrusion 121 b to create a space where, e.g., a logo may be marked.

Next, the hot stamping system to attach the thin film to the sideportions of the middle cover of the display apparatus will be described.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the hot stamping system 200 includes a centerjig device 210 to grip and support the above-described middle cover 120,a sheet feed device 220 disposed at the left side of the jig device 210to feed a sheet to which the thin film 123 has been attached, a sheetrecovery device 230 disposed at the right side of the jig device 210 tocollect the used sheet, and the hot stamping device 240 disposed abovethe jig device 210 to allow the thin film 123 on the sheet to betransferred and attached to the side portions 121 of the middle cover120 by applying heat and pressure to the sheet.

The jig device 210, as illustrated in FIG. 5 which shows a plan view ofa portion of FIG. 4, supports the middle cover 120 such that one of thefour side portions 121 of the middle cover 120 faces upward. The jigdevice 210 includes a support member 211 on which the middle cover 120is placed, a jig member 212 to press the middle cover 120 onto thesupport member 211, and a gas spring 213 to elastically support the jigmember 212. As such, the jig device 210 serves to prevent movement ofthe middle cover 120 during hot stamping, which may ensure that the thinfilm 123 is accurately attached to the side portions 121 of the middlecover 120.

Referring again to FIG. 4, the sheet feed device 220 serves to feed thesheet, to which the thin film 123 has been attached, above of the jigdevice 210 by unwinding the sheet in the form of a roll. The sheetrecovery device 230, as illustrated in FIG. 8, serves to wind andcollect the sheet, which has been used for hot stamping such that atleast a partial region of the thin film 123 is transferred to the sideportions 121. In this case, the sheet feed device 220 applies a constanttension to the sheet to keep the sheet taut.

The hot stamping device 240, as illustrated in FIG. 6, includes a roller241 to press the sheet against the side portions 121 of the middle cover120, and a heater 242 to heat the roller 241. In the exemplaryembodiment, the heater 242 may include a halogen lamp and may heat theroller 241 to about 200° C. In this case, an upper one of the sideportions 121 has an oblique upper surface as described above. Therefore,the planar roller 241 is obliquely installed by an inclination anglecorresponding to the upper surface of the side portion 121 so as to beinstalled parallel to the upper surface of the side portion 121. Assuch, when the roller 241 heated by the heater 242 presses the sheetagainst the upper surface of the side portion 121 of the middle cover120, the thin film 123 on the sheet is transferred and attached to theside portion 121 of the middle cover 120 upon receiving heat andpressure via the roller 241.

The above-described hot stamping device 240 is installed to a transportdevice 250 provided above the hot stamping device 240 and is adapted tomove along with the transport device 250 or to be vertically moved bythe transport device 250. The transport device 250 includes a drive unit251 that generates drive force, a transport screw 252 that extends in alongitudinal direction of the side portion 121 to allow the hot stampingdevice 240 to move in the longitudinal direction of the side portion121, an elevating member 253 that is vertically moved by the drive unit251 to enable vertical movement of the hot stamping device 240, and aplurality of guide bars 254 that is arranged around and parallel to theelevating member 253 to guide vertical movement of the hot stampingdevice 240. Although not illustrated in the drawing, the transportdevice 250 includes a pair of guide rails provided at opposite sides ofthe transport screw 252 and arranged parallel to the transport screw 252to guide movement of the transport device 250.

Accordingly, as the hot stamping device is vertically moved by thetransport device 250, the sheet is moved along the transport screw 252and the guide rails (not shown) along with the transport device 250while selectively pressing the side portion 121 of the middle cover 120,thereby allowing the thin film 123 of the sheet to be successivelytransferred to the side portion 121 from one side to the other sidethereof.

A method of attaching the thin film 123 to the side portion 121 of themiddle cover 120 via the hot stamping system 200 having theabove-described configuration will hereinafter be described.

First, once the middle cover 120 has been placed on the support member211, the middle cover 120 is fixed using the jig member 212 so as to besupported by the support member 211. In such a state, the roller 241 ofthe hot stamping device 240, as illustrated in FIG. 8, is spaced apartfrom the sheet and the side portion 121 of the middle cover 120.

After the middle cover 120 is completely fixed, the roller 241 is heatedby the heater 242 within the hot stamping device 240. After completionof heating of the roller 241, the hot stamping device 240, asillustrated in FIG. 7, is moved downward by the transport device 250,causing the roller 241 to press the sheet downward until the sheet comesinto contact with the outer surface of the side portion 121. In thiscase, the roller 241 is moved downward and outward from the right sideof the middle cover 120 as illustrated in FIG. 8, such that a lower endof the roller 241 is located at a predetermined height h that is lowerthan a surface of the side portion 121 where hot stamping will beperformed. In this way, the thin film 123 may be transferred to onecorner of the side portion 121.

Then, the hot stamping device 240 applies heat and pressure to the thinfilm 123 of the sheet as illustrated in FIG. 9 while being moved alongwith the transport device 250 as the transport device 250 is moved alongthe transport screw 252, thereby allowing the thin film 123 to besuccessively transferred from one side to the other side of the sideportion 121 so as to be attached to the side portion 121.

In this case, since the side portion 121 is obliquely formed asdescribed above, and thus the roller 241 is also obliquely arranged, thethin film 123 on the sheet may be stably attached to the side portion121 of the by the roller 241. Also, since the rear end of the sideportion 121 has the concavely stepped portion 121 a as described above,the thin film 123 may be accurately attached to the side portion 121except for the stepped portion 121 a.

Thereafter, the hot stamping device 240 is moved outward from the leftside of the middle cover 120, and simultaneously is moved downward to aposition lower than the side portion 121, thereby allowing the thin film123 to be transferred and attached to an opposite corner of the sideportion 121. In this way, the thin film 123 is completely attached toone side portion 121.

Since the middle cover 120 has the four side portions 121 at upper andlower sides and left and right sides thereof, the above-describedoperation is repeated by separating the middle cover 120 from the jigdevice 210 after the thin film 123 is attached to the side portion 121as described above, and again fixing another side portion 121 to the jigdevice 210 so as to be placed on the jig device 210. As theabove-described operation is repeated four times, the thin film 123 iscompletely attached to each of the four side portions 121 of the middlecover 120. In this case, the hot stamping device 240 attaches the thinfilm 123 so as to cover the corners of the respective side portions 121as described above. Therefore, the corners of the side portions 121undergo overlay of the thin film 123, which ensures more accurateattachment of the thin film 123 even to the corners.

The side portion 121 located at the lower side of the four sides of themiddle cover 120, as illustrated in FIG. 10, is provided with theprotrusion 121 b. In this case, it may be possible to accurately attachthe thin film 123 to an inclined end of the protrusion 121 b by reducinga movement speed of the hot stamping device 120. Alternatively, asillustrated in FIG. 11, when providing the hot stamping device 240 withan auxiliary roller 241, the inclined end of the protrusion 121 b may beadditionally pressed by the auxiliary roller 241, which may ensure thatthe thin film 123 is accurately attached to the inclined end of theprotrusion 121 b.

As described above, in the exemplary embodiment, although the middlecover 120 is separated from the jig device 210 after the thin film 123is completely attached to one side portion 121 of the four side portions121, and then is again fixed to the jig device 210 such that anotherside portion 121 faces upward, the disclosure is not limited thereto.Alternatively, the middle cover 120 may be rotated via rotation of thejig device 210 to allow the four side portions 121 of the middle cover120 to be oriented so as to face upward in sequence. In this case, itmay be desirable to vertically move the middle cover 120 as the jigdevice 210 is vertically moved based on the side portion 121 to whichthe thin film 123 will be attached because the middle cover 120 having arectangular shape has different vertical and horizontal widths. That is,assuming that one of the left and right side portions 121 of the middlecover 120 is oriented to face upward, the jig device 210 is moveddownward to move the middle cover 120 downward. Also, assuming that oneof the upper and lower side portions 121 of the middle cover 120 isoriented to face upward, the jig device 210 is moved upward to move themiddle cover 120 upward. In this way, even if any one of the four sideportions 121 of the middle cover 120 is oriented to face upward, thecorresponding side portion 121 may be located at the same height everytime.

Although the sheet feed device 220 is adapted to apply tension to thesheet in the exemplary embodiment, the disclosure is not limitedthereto. Alternatively, tension may be applied to the sheet by the sheetrecovery device 230, or by both the sheet feed device 220 and the sheetrecovery device 230.

Also, although the exemplary embodiment is applied to the displayapparatus 100 including the middle cover 120 and the rear cover 130, thedisclosure is not limited thereto, and may be directly applied to otherkinds of covers including the side portion 121 to cover the side portionof the display panel 110.

As is apparent from the above description, a display apparatus accordingto the exemplary embodiments enables fabrication of a middle coverhaving various colors of side portions as a result of attaching a thinfilm having a particular color to the side portions of the middle coverthat has been formed of the particular color of resin.

Although the exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, itwould be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may bemade in these exemplary embodiments without departing from theprinciples and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined inthe claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A display apparatus comprising: a display panelon which an image is displayed, the display panel comprising an upperside surface, a lower side surface, a left side surface, and a rightside surface; a cover comprising a side portion configured to cover theupper and the lower side surfaces and the left and the right sidesurfaces of the display panel; and a thin film attached to an outersurface of the side portion, wherein the side portion comprises aconcavely stepped portion on at least one of a front end and a rear endof the outer surface thereof to limit an attachment area of the thinfilm.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cover furthercomprises: a middle cover having the side portion and a rear portionconfigured to cover an outer peripheral region of a rear surface of thedisplay panel; and a rear cover coupled to the middle cover andconfigured to cover the rear surface of the display panel.
 3. Theapparatus according to claim 2, wherein the side portion is formed of atransparent material, and the rear portion is formed of an opaquematerial.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the sideportion and the rear portion are integrally formed with each other viadouble injection molding.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe thin film is attached to the outer surface of the side portion viahot stamping.
 6. A display apparatus comprising: a display panel onwhich an image is displayed, the display panel comprising an uppersurface, a lower surface, a left surface, and a right surface; a rearhousing disposed behind the display panel; and a bezel which is disposedaround the display panel, the bezel comprising a side wall which coversat least a portion of at least one from among the upper, the lower, theleft, and the right surfaces of the display panel, wherein a thin filmis attached to an outer surface of the side wall and the side wall is ofone color and the thin film is of another color, wherein the side wallcomprises a concavely stepped portion on at least one of a front end anda rear end of the outer surface thereof to limit an attachment area ofthe thin film.
 7. The display apparatus of claim 6, wherein the bezel isa front bezel and the front bezel further comprises a front platedisposed in front of the display panel, and the side wall extendsrearwardly from the front plate.
 8. A display apparatus comprising: adisplay panel on which an image is displayed; and a cover configured tomount the display panel, wherein the cover comprises: a first portion tocover a side part of the display panel, a second portion configured tobe concavely stepped with respect to an outer surface of the firstportion, and a thin film attached to an outer surface of the firstportion aside from the second portion.
 9. The display apparatusaccording to claim 8, wherein the thin film is attached to the outersurface of the first portion via hot stamping.
 10. The display apparatusaccording to claim 8, wherein an attachment area of the thin film islimited by the second portion.